I am in midst of a two-month visit and really hope I can help this kitten by the time I leave. I found him within an hour of arriving, on my first store run to get some bottled water. He was a tiny handful of kitten, alone by his lonesome, barricaded in a small, locked, outdoor shed among some rusty furniture. Nearby residents and passers by told me he had been meowing for at least two days straight. He was starving and very fearful.

He comes in and out of the shed at will but the gates of the structure are closed and padlocked, no one knows who the owner is, and it is not accessible to humans. I am not an expert but he seems too young to be away from his mother and I think that is the base of his sad situation. A nearby resident told me that he ventures out occasionally but is very fearful and always races back to the shed.

I didn't know what to do but he was so tiny and so cute and so hungry that I began feeding him. Two weeks later, things are both good and bad for the same reason. He has grown used to being fed properly, has grown, has begun playing like a kitten, and has grown accustomed to me. When I come he jumps on my shoulder, nestles on my neck, uses my hands as a batting toy, and prefers to eat while tucked cozily under my arm.

This is good because, well, furry purry kittens are a good thing. But it is bad because he is fast becoming a perfect candidate for a loving furever home and I don't know how to find that for him. I don't know any resources or organizations to turn to in Jerusalem or who to ask. If I can manage I will try to help with the cost of neutering him and getting necessary initial health care.

If anyone can help or give me some advice, I would be so grateful. Many thanks.

OH MY..... what a beautiful story and you have a huge heart to have been the one to start caring for him. All the others just turned their backs on him - hearing his cries from that shed. Bless you for stepping up to care for him or he surely would have died. NOW.... I DO SOOOOOO hope someone comes along that can give you some advice - that maybe lives in your area. Is there anyway to put up flyers in vet offices and pet stores? I know this is hard because you are new to the area and don't have resources. What about just making some calls to vets in the area to get some info. on any cat people that they might know? AWWWW he sounds SOOO very loving. Thank you for getting the ball rolling with his vet care too. Is there anyway to take him home with you when you leave? Maybe find him a home where you live? :dk:

I found this information on Google. Hope it is helpful.

Ahava animal rescue operation in Kiryat Tivon,

The Ahava organization  03-6446888 or 09-9588833.

Sigh. There's literally an endless stream of homeless cats in Israel. The weather makes it possible for ferals to multiply in numbers very quickly with females having two and even three litters every year. That means any no-kill shelter is quickly swamped by kittens and can rarely take in new cats.

The largest shelter/sanctuary currently in operation is called Girgurim (literally: purrs) and it's located halfway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Here's a link to their page in English -

http://www.girgurim.co.il/site/detail/detail/detailDetail.asp?detail_id=1242955

There's the Cat Lovers Society but they're in Haifa, so not sure if they can help (you could try) -

http://www.isracat.org.il/english

I also found the Jerusalem Street Cat Association. I can't get the link to their English website to work but their phone number is: 052-8701277 If you can read Hebrew, their page is here -

http://www.jerusalemcat.org

Good luck! Oh, and I hope you're not buying more bottled water for the little thing. That one made me smile. Tap water is perfectly safe to drink in Israel, for cats and humans

Thank you all so much for the kind, good thoughts and help. I will try to get some Jerusalem-specific resources out of the leads you gave me. I just came in, exhausted, will update at a more awake hour.

Kitty is doing great and is so delicious that I'm convinced I get more out of it than him. Nothing can ground you better, and shut off the outside static, like a kitty-morsel trying to use every part of you he can reach as his toy. 

Meantime I also remembered an acquaintance telling me her parents always had - and have - cats underfeet in their house and yard. It sounded like a casual household with a "come one come all" kind of welcome. Lots of people here have indoor-outdoor cats, quite different from NY where we keep our kitties indoors always. But for the moment, their arrangement sounds like they might be amenable to adding another little one to their herd. Even if they aren't as rigorous as I like to think I am, a casual household with regular feedings would be nirvana for the little dude. I'm going to call and ask my friend to find out if her folks are willing to take another one. 

You're not kidding when you talk about the street cat overpopulation. It's appalling. There are quite a few people who feel kindly enough that I often see bowls of water or kitty kibble set up in little hiding spots. But of course ultimately nothing will address the underlying issue except more TNR and less baby kittens, no matter how cute. There are people who know that but it is a sisyphean task with no help from the municipality as far as I can understand it. 

And P.S. to Anne: No, no bottled water for my as-yet-no-name street cat! Fer heaven's sake, I've seen him standing around with one foot firmly planted in his food plate. He doesn't need any Evian. It's just a bottle I filled with tap water. Last thing on earth I need is for him to get as finicky as the two beasties waiting at home, who have long ago forgotten that they started life under my neighbor's car in the driveway. 

And he is gone. Justlikethat. Wednesday morning at breakfast he was fine, trying to find a way to eat and stay tucked under my chin (his food was on a fence so he was eye-level with me) at the same time. Once he discovered the joys of snuzzling and kissling and ear skritchies, he caught on quick.

But in the afternoon he wasn't napping in his usual place, and when evening came and I called to him, no one came. I left a bit of food out, but in the morning it was still there, which was a bit strange considering there must be about 15 cats on that street alone.

Since then, I have still gone by regularly. It is a spot I pass by in my car a few times a day, and I've taken to pulling up and jumping out to see if he'll answer, but he doesn't.

Poor darling little beastie. I pray that he will never suffer another moment. Maybe he is with his momma now. I suspect his barricading himself in that old shed was a result of somehow being separated from his mom. Maybe there is a fairy tale ending to all this and someone scooped him up and took him home.

I was troubled from the start by all this. In the rear of the shed, he had easy access to a private garden, which would have been ideal for coaxing him out. But the only access for passersby like me was at the front of the shed which faces a very busy street. I thought he should be coaxed out to at least maybe join his brethren and sistren in the trash bins where they scrounge. It is just as dreadful as it sounds, but staying in that shed and meowling till someone came along and fed him, that's not a long-term solution either.

My heart is very sore but I am trying to console myself knowing that even in his tiny little life, where he seems to have endured a fair bit of tragedy, in the end it all came right for a little while and he knew how it feels to go to sleep with a full belly, and even learned about the delights of being cuddled. Sad to say, even that is more than some of God's children get, and I'm not only talking about cats. So there's that.

Last night I put the rest of his food out for the cats on his street, in his honor. Again, so sad to know that even a few cans of Friskies couldn't have gone far when there are so many mouths to feed. Sad-happiest of all, today I drove down the street and saw four newly-independent kittens even smaller than him. There is nothing cuter than a kitten, so I could never be sad to see them, but I am sad knowing the lives they will lead. I wish there were something more substantial to help their plight.

For now, I have a couple of pics I snapped of the little boy, and another very cute cat I met. I'll post them this weekend if I have time. Thank you all so much for finding all those resources. Im bookmarking the page and while I'm here I'll try to learn more and maybe find other good cat folks. 

I will still stop by his house a few times, but in my heart, I think I know there won't be any answer when I call out to him. Sad sad sad sad sad.

Like you said, it's possible that he was indeed taken in by a kind person and given a home, or taken to a shelter, especially if this was on a busy street. Try and take comfort in that possibility - it's not that rare in Israel. I know I have rescued dozens of kittens like that and both of my cats started life out as street kittens and rescued (one by us, another by someone who brought little Gezer to a shelter). You socialized the little one, probably giving him a chance at a good life he would not have otherwise had.

The current mayor of Jerusalem is (surprisingly) not a Hassidic Jew, hence open to the idea of TNR. Here's a link to the contact form -

http://www.jerusalem.muni.il/jer_main/defaultnew.asp?lng=2

Why not write to his office, let them know of your perspective as a visitor of the situation of feral cats in Jerusalem and urge them to start a municipal TNR program. A TNR program has been in place in Tel Aviv for at least 15 years now and it's doing really well. Wouldn't hurt Jerusalem to start a similar program. Let them know that as a visitor, the sight of TNR'ed well fed cats would be much nicer than what you're seeing now.

Thanks, Anne. This was on Ramban St, with heavy traffic 24/7. On the other side it led to the garden of a house on Al-Harizi, which is as quiet as a country lane. But the house had a fence with barbed wire to keep people out of the garden. No obstacle for a cat, but it made impossible for me to feed him on that side, which would have been better.

He was a super-fearful kitty who fled at the sounds of a rustling plastic bag as well as passing trucks, so I hardly think he'd have run out into the traffic. All the fleeing was always inwards toward the houses and backyards.

I hope someone picked him up. There were a few people who passed by regularly, especially one gentleman who knew about TNR programs and was quite interested in the kitty's progress. I think he was also a little surprised at my tenacity. I had confided in him that I would only be here for the next month, so it's possible that after he saw how the kitty was thriving and becoming socialized, maybe he scooped him up.

From what I heard, the municipality isn't going to help, even though you now have a mayor who you'd think was more sympathetic. But apparently it's a combination of no money and apathy. I got to know a couple of nice people trying to help but it's like swimming upstream. On the plus side, it's a fairly cat-tolerant city in the sense that I see water containers set out here and there, or little piles of food. But again, with so many masses of cats, it's an impossible situation. Start feeding five, and in no time you'll have fifty meowing at your front door. Literally. Very literally. I love the kitties but I'm also a homeowner and I totally understand why that wouldn't work. It would be lovely to have masses of little kittens licking up their supper, but I wouldn't want the catfights and smell that goes hand-in-hand with that. 

I will probably drive by his little house again tonight. I keep thinking, maybe he was injured and is hiding until he heals, which we know is something that cats do. But realistically, Im only going to try a couple more days, at some point you have to accept the inevitable.